Bullies leave schoolyard for cyberspace

By Taralynn Hartsell, Ph.D./OURNEWS

Originally published January 1, 2008,   Updated January 3, 2022

   A thirteen-year-old girl committed suicide several years ago because of online harassment on the MySpace social networking site. Parents of the girl blamed their 47-year-old neighbor who impersonated herself as a teenage boy who first became interested in the girl, and then began bullying her. The neighbor’s last message to the girl was that this world “would be better a better place” without her. The victim took this message at heart and left this world behind.

   Bullies often seen on the “schoolyard” are now taking their grounds online, regardless of age. Because people today, especially the youth, are so involved in participating with online virtual communities like Facebook, MySpace, and other online groups, reaching fellow classmates, youth, etc. has become much easier.  In short, the world today extends beyond physical walls with quicker and more efficient ways to post inappropriate online messages, images, and materials for the entire world to see that may be destructive to certain individuals. This, the old “schoolyard bully” is now taking a new form called “cyberbullying.”

   Although the above case of the thirteen-year-old girl is more of an example of cyberstalking in that an adult perpetrated the harassment of a teenager, cyberbullying occurs when children, preteens, or teens harass other fellow students or friends. An example of cyberbullying is much like the case below:

   16-year-old girl from Alabama:

   It’s one thing when you get made fun of at school, but to be bullied in your own home via your computer is disgusting.  I think anyone who gets a kick out of it is disgusting. It makes me feel bad about myself. It makes me wonder how people can be so rude and disrespectful of others and makes me lose faith in humans. It decreases my self-esteem, and I often wonder what I did to make someone treat me that way.

   Thus, a definition of cyberbullying involves a child, preteen, or teen who is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed, or targeted by another child, preteen, or teen through the Internet, interactive and digital technologies, or mobile phones. Methods used to cyberbully one another are limited by the person’s imagination and access to technology. Cyberbullying can involve sending threatening or vulgar e-mail messages or images, posting sensitive or personal information about another person online, pretending to be someone else to make a child or teen look bad, or intentionally excluding someone from a group. Furthermore, children, preteens, and teens often change roles in these situations. A child could start off as being the bully harassing another child, ad later become the victim when friends of the harassed child or outsiders become involved. Hence, the roles can turn automatically and without warning,

   To restrain cyberbullying, parents and educators can take some steps. For parents and guardians, these guidelines and suggestions may help prevent or document cyberbullying:

• Encourage your child not to respond to cyberbullying
• Maintain all messages, pictures, etc. of the instance for evidence
• Printing pages of websites can also help
• Try identifying the cyberbully through the Internet Service provider
• Online communities themselves have strict policies concerning threatening or vulgar conduct among its members, so reporting such instances to the online community service provider may help.
• Blocking e-mail or mobile phone messages sent by a person is recommended to ease harassment’s side-effects
• If one knows the parents or guardians of the cyberbully, contacting them about the situation could help because the parents or guardians themselves may be unaware of the behavior and sympathize. However, be cautious when approaching the other side because some parents or guardians may react badly
• In severe cases, contacting an attorney may be required
• If the cyberbullying violates the jurisdiction’s criminal laws, contact the police and report the misdemeanor.

Some suggestions for educators include:

• Teaching parents, students, and other staff members to recognize the dangers of cyberbullying and how to approach the situation; 
• ensuring that the school’s anti-bullying rules address online bullying as well
• closely monitoring students’ use of computers
• immediately investigating any report of cyberbullying, and
•  in serious cases that violate criminal laws, getting the police involved early is recommended.

   Cyberbullying is not going to stop in the near future. Children, preteens, and teens are the actual cure to prevent cyberbullying. Nonetheless, adults need to become involved and communicate with their children about the detrimental effects of bullying others online, or reporting inappropriate behaviors observed by others whether they themselves are the victims or their friends. Communication is the primary weapon against cyberbullying and because the Internet is here to stay, we all must do this now.

   Taralynn  Hartsell, Ph.D. is an associate professor at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA.